124 



THE AMERICAN APICVLTURIST. 



This feet is of more weiglit than any 

 argument. 



Punic bees are taking with a ven- 

 geance. They are now in nearly every 

 country, and every post brings in flat- 

 tering reports. They were swarming 

 a month before the natives, and filling 

 supers long before any others. I met a 

 clergyman ^o-day — the Rev. George 

 Shipton of Brampton, near Chesterfield. 

 He said his Funics had filled their sec- 

 tions, but unfortunately the weather 

 changed before they got them all sealed 

 over. He has tried nearly all races, and 

 now he is going in for Funics, and I can 

 name many more like him. They will 

 be imported as wanted^ and I intend to 

 keep up their supply, as undoubtedly 

 they are the bees of the future. Mr. 

 Cowan may deter many from trying 

 them for a time, but they will eventually 

 prevail, and opposition stimulates in- 

 quiry. He says he has come back from 

 Tunis, and "that, though he made the 

 most careful investigations, he failed to 

 find any of the so-called Funic bees." 

 Quite likely. It will be remembered 

 that Mr. Cowan carefully investigated 

 the June Record for a paragraph now 

 historical, and failed to find it, in the 

 same manner as he failed to find the 

 Funic bees ; but I found both. — A Hal- 

 LAMSHiRE Bee-keeper. 



AVII.VT THK ROOTS THINK OF THE PUXICS. 



Our Funics are dohis" no better in lioney 

 — indeed, we donbt whetlier they are do- 

 ing as well — as the average colony of Ital- 

 ians of equal strength; and, with the ex- 

 ception of the Cyprians, they are the mean- 

 est hees Ave ever brought into the apiary. 

 July 4th we wanted to show A. I. II. the 

 new rare He at once snggested that we 

 open the hive without smoke, which avc 

 did, pei'haps a little unceremoniously. 

 The air Avas immediately tilled Avith hun- 

 dreds of mad bees ; and so pei'sistent Avtre 

 they that we gladly ran for a veil and smo- 

 ker, aliiiongh A. 1. 1{., true to his aversion 

 for bee-veils, crouched doAvn under a shel- 

 tering grapevine, with his hands up to his 

 face. We then smoked the bees, but they 

 Iwiled all over, about as bad as black bees : 

 and, like black bees, they Avonkl liold them- 

 selves suspended on the Aving, perfectly 



motionless, apparently, Aviththe exception 

 of the Avings, right before the eyes, in a 

 tantalizing Avay. By the Avay, Ave avouUI 

 prefer to be stung, and done Avitli it, than 

 to be held in constant fear of it. The 

 next day one of our boys attempted to run 

 a laAvn-moAver some feAV rods away from 

 the Funic colony'; but he was A^ery glad to 

 put on a A'eil, and even then the little 

 scamps pestered his hands. When .Mr. 

 Langstroth av;is lisre, and shortlv after, 

 we took every precaution to keep the bees 

 quiet, or, at least, not to arouse them uu- 

 ne essarily, for we did not Avish to test the 

 temper of a neAV race of bees in the pres- 

 e.ice of one to Avhom, at his advanced age, 

 stings might be next thing to serious. The 

 bees were also younger Avhen he Avas here, 

 and, of course, gemler. Now that they 

 are tAVo or three Ave .^ks older, they are reg- 

 ular little demons, unless handled careful- 

 ly. We should state this, hoAA^ever, that 

 they delight more in blu-^ter and angry 

 buzzing than in actual stings. 



In our last issue av3 stated that they Avere 

 the worst bees for depositing propolis we 

 ever saAv. For example, Ave have a crate 

 of sections on their hive; andevenbefoi'e 

 there Avas an ounce of honey put in them 

 (tliere is not more than a feAV ounces noAV 

 in the AAiiole crate) these Funics be-meared 

 the sections all around the edges in six 

 days in a Avay that is Avorse than any hy- 

 brid.s ever thought of doing in six months 

 It' our Funics arc a fair sample, Ave do not 

 see hoAv any one can regard them as gen- 

 tle ; and more and more they are beginning 

 to show th3 regular characteristics of the 

 common black bee. — brleaniiiys. 



Very good, friend Root. When I 

 first ran over the above I thought it Avas 

 as bad as could be said of the Funics. 

 Now if any one knows of a l^etter way 

 to make bees "mad" or to enrage them, 

 just speak up loud enough for all to hear. 

 The above should not be considered a 

 fair test of the disposition of the Funics. 

 There is not a colony of any race of bees 

 that would not behave as badly as the 

 Funics under similar circumstances. So 

 far as using large amounts of propolis, 

 will say that they are no Avorse Avith me 

 than other bees. By the way, friend R., 

 why don't you use a section crate so con- 

 structed that the "Funics or no others 

 can soil the sections? 



One or two questions, friend R., and 

 I will drop the Funics for awhile. 



Have you any bees in your apiary 

 that would not stuig you worse than the 



